


love in the time of paranoia

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Aftershocks, Background Skoulson, Canon Compliant, Everyone knows Phil Coulson loves Skye, F/M, M/M, Mack is not happy, Parallels, Paranoia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 10:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3484724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Aftershocks AOS 2.11 ficlet with Mack thinking about what he saw in the temple.  Canon Friendly.  Mack's POV.  Background Skoulson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	love in the time of paranoia

Mack went back to his corner of the Playground and went back to work.

That's the sort of thing he did when he needed to clear his head.

Busy hands are happy hands. That's what his mom had told him. Four or five, he couldn't remember the exact age, but the moment? Yeah, he remembered that.

He had always had these busy hands.

And being down in that temple, being trapped inside of his head knowing something else was driving him like a machine?

He wasn't okay.

None of this was okay.

So the Director didn't like him pointing out some real obvious facts?

Too bad.

It's not like he's a jerk, he doesn't think of himself like that, but the others weren't down there in the temple.

Skye and Coulson? They were there on purpose.

Trip was just a bystander, man. Just like him.

And Trip was gone, but he was still here.

Coulson went damn near crazy with that stuff in his blood. He didn't have a history with the man, but, they still had a bigger purpose in all of this and it was to keep the world safe from _exactly_ this sort of crazy.

Thing was, everyone else knew about it, and they just absorbed it. Like it was just another day at the office.

One minute Coulson's okay, the next he's not, and then they're pointed in the direction of this alien city. With a temple in it, and that Obelisk had killed Izzy and Idaho and life had gone on then, too.

Something wasn't adding up.

Not what he signed on for. It was just to grab some intel and make sure it all checked out. This new SHIELD didn't make him feel any safer than the old one had.

The way they had looked at each other, when things stopped shaking. Actually, now that he though about it, as he twisted apart a socket, it stopped shaking when they saw each other.

The two of them made it out of there alive.

Why was Coulson down there? If he had his stories straight, Trip set charges and Coulson went in knowing he might not come out.

All he needed was to get to her, then.

Those two organized that whole op. Whatever Coulson said about HYDRA having the map, and Skye, whatever. They wanted to get down there.

Things seemed to have worked out, didn't they?

"Mack."

It was Bobbi, looking over his shoulder, interrupting the progress he was making. He turned to her, didn't reply. Staring at the bag in her hand.

"Cool it," she said, with a serious nod.

"You weren't down there," he said, turning back to his work, staring, his hands looking for the next steps. He dropped one tool and picked up another.

"Yeah, I wasn't. Want to talk about it?"

She sighed when he didn't answer.

"Skye's really scared, okay?" she said.

"Not sure why," Mack said. "She got out alive. Her and Coulson."

"Do you really think this what they wanted to happen?" she whispered. He could tell she was frowning, the way it had come out with her voice and all.

"Look, I was being controlled by that," he answered. "They might not have had a choice. That's all."

"Did you see something important?" she asked. "Something you're not sharing?"

"The way they looked at each other," he started. "Like I wasn't even there."

"Hmm," Bobbi said, nodding her head. "Do you think maybe, it might possibly be that he just... _I dunno_...loves her?"

He turned to her, looking offended. "Did you ever think that maybe they planned the whole thing?"

"Mack," she said, tilting her head, and pressing her tongue against her teeth. "I'm going to check on Skye."

"You do that," he said, watching her walk away.

Picking up the tools again, he went back to work.

He didn't know these people. Not really. Trying, but there was so much stuff going on he felt like he mostly walked in on someone's messy family drama, and that's exactly why he was still single.

The whole planet needed to just chill the hell out right now.

Taking a deep breath, he twisted the socket, let the sound clear his head.

Coulson wasn't exactly friendly with Skye when he first got here, was he?

Skye had made some jokes about it on repeat, and Trip had just looked at him and raised his eyebrows. Then Hunter started in on it.

That was enough to let him know there was already something going on, but that wasn't why he was here. Should have paid more attention to that stuff.

It just seemed the normal kind of crazy. Not aliens. Or temples.

And then that one day... Skye was standing over him, he was listening to every word she said. Her voice. Even when he lost control, her voice.

_This is crazy._

Their eyes in that temple. He can't shake it. All they wanted was each other. If he didn't know better, seeing the way they'd embraced. Like one person.

Maybe that drug in them...he was a part of her, she was a part of him?

He'd been sitting outside of the quarantine room all night. That's what he'd heard Simmons say.

Love. The Director of SHIELD, wearing his heart out in the open like that.  Silly.

Is that really what Bobbi wanted him to believe?

"Hey."

He said it noticing Fitz had come in quietly, shuffling around like he did; being present, not ready to intrude.

Something about his face gave it all away.

"You alright, Turbo?"

"No," he said abruptly, making eye contact, then looking down again. "Yup. Fine."

But his hand was on his hip, while he kept moving.  Mack bowed his head, fighting a smile.  This kid wasn't great at hiding.  It was kind of refreshing, actually, after everything he'd been through.

"Don't think so," Mack said, setting his tools down, looking Fitz over, noticing him fidget. "What's that in your hand?"

"It's Skye's, he said. "Wrist monitor. I need to fix it, came to borrow some tools."

"Sure," Mack said, shrugging. "Whatever you need."

"Yeah, thanks," Fitz said, smiling at him.

Mack realized he was smiling back, catching that thought for a moment, then letting it go as he stood up, making room for him.

"It's all yours."

 


End file.
